20,000 buttons for Metro’s 3 billionth passenger

As of this morning, the agency estimated it had served 2,999,563,000 passengers in the 36 years since it launched Jan. 1 1973, putting it still on track to see its 3 billionth passenger by Tuesday night.

King County serves an average of 400,000 passengers a day, but a lighter load over spring break will delay the milestone, said spokeswoman Linda Thielke.

King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Director of Transportation Harold Taniguchi, and Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond will distribute the buttons and thank passengers from a platform at the International District Station starting at 8 a.m.

“It was all pretty grassroots, since we don’t have a lot of money, but we though it was important to say thank you,” Thielke said. “It was a tough winter for everybody, and of course, this is big milestone.”

King County Metro served its billionth passenger in 1988, and its 2 billionth in 1999. More on the 3 billionth landmark on Metro’s Web site.